Plenty of precipitation and big temperature swings for Montreal over the next week

If you don't like the weather in Montreal this Spring, just wait a few hours, it will change. I took the photo above on March 19, on an otherwise sunny Sunday, that went rogue for a few minutes before the sun returned. Southern Quebec has been on a temperature roller coaster over the last two weeks, complete with snow, sleet, freezing rain, wind, thunder and lightning! (Valley Weather Photo)

Spring is certainly not for the faint of heart here in southern Quebec. This week is a prime example of how angry the season can be. As I mentioned in a previous post, it is a volatile weather season, with some of the biggest swings in temperature you will see during any given year, accompanied by intense and at times severe weather.

On Wednesday, Montreal reached a high of 10C (50F) around 4pm under partly sunny skies and southwest winds. During the evening hours, a strong arctic boundary slipped south of the St. Lawrence Valley, accompanied by intense snow squalls, zero visibility and rapidly dropping temperatures. There was even a few rumbles of thunder to the west and northwest of the city with the frontal passage. By 8pm, the city had dropped all the way back to 0C (32F), with a low Thursday morning of -8C (18F). Thursday was wicked cold for late March, with a high of only 0C (32F) and brutal windchill readings in the minus teens.

Friday will be the calm before another wild weather ride. A developing storm system over the southern plains, will move northeast towards the Great Lakes and across central Quebec on Saturday. A warm front will bring mix of rain and snow to the Montreal region late in the day Friday, with less than 5cm expected for most of us. 

Gusty southwest winds will develop after midnight, along with a surge of warm air resulting in rain, up to 15mm, for the Montreal area. Saturday afternoon, there is the risk of a thunderstorm or two along and south of the St. Lawrence River. Further north, precipitation will remain as snow, with 15-25cm possible in far western Quebec and northeast Ontario.

After a cool day on Friday, temperatures will surge to 12C (54F) on Saturday, the warmest day of 2023 thus far in Montreal. The warmth will be short-lived, as another potent cold front crosses the region Saturday night bringing with it another round of showers and flurries along with dropping temperatures once again. The forecast low by Sunday morning is -9C (16F), along with gusty northwest winds.

The sun returns for Sunday, but temperatures will be cold at 1C (34F), accompanied by northwest winds of 20-40km/h.

We rinse and repeat by the middle of next week. Stay tuned!

Snow squalls some thunder expected Wednesday evening

Heavy wet snow and even a few rumbles of thunder occurred Saturday evening in Montreal, making for difficult driving conditions. A general 5-10cm fell across southwestern Quebec. (JKO Photo)

A potent cold front is expected to bring an abrupt end to a beautiful spring day in Montreal as it crosses the St. Lawrence Valley Wednesday evening.

The cold front will be accompanied by strong winds, up to 70km/h, as well as showers changing to flurries after 6pm or so. Some of the flurries may be quite heavy for a short duration, and for the second time in less than a week, be accompanied by thunder and lightning. Temperatures will fall dramatically from todays high of 7C (45F), down to a morning low of -8C (18F) by Thursday morning. There may be some slippery driving late this evening as wet surfaces freeze rapidly. Thursday will see skies slowly clear, but it will be blustery and unseasonably cold, with a high of only 0C (32F) and gusty northwest winds up to 50km/h.

Spring can be a dynamic season has we have already witnessed over the last few days in our region and across parts of North America. Temperature contrasts and associated weather can be some of the greatest and most extreme of any season. Last Saturdays storm system was a perfect example, with heavy wet snow falling across parts of Quebec and Ontario, along with embedded thunder and lighting for many, including here on Ile Perrot. The storm put down a quick 5-15cm across the region, quickly covering roads on what otherwise had been a mild day. The snow covered roads produced some spectacular accidents, especially off island.

The Rolling Fork, Mississippi tornado claimed at least 25 lives, producing complete destruction in several small commutes in the western portion of the state. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

This was the same storm system that produced the horrific Rolling Fork, Mississippi tornado on Friday night. The powerful EF-4 tornado travelled for nearly 100km, with a damage path over 1km wide. The storm was on the ground for 70 minutes, with estimated winds reaching over 270km/h. Several small Mississippi communities were levelled in the tornado, with at least 25 fatalities reported.

Winter is not over for southern Quebec and Ontario

A spring storm will produce a wide area of mixed precipitation this weekend across Ontario and Quebec, with as much as 10cm of wet snow for the Montreal region.

High pressure will result in some brief clearing across southern Quebec on Friday, along with seasonable temperatures. The fair weather will not last long, as a developing low pressure area over the lower Mississippi Valley begins to lift northward towards the central Great Lakes. 

This storm will pass across Michigan on Saturday then just north of Montreal while weakening. The result will be increasing clouds overnight, with widespread precipitation arriving on Saturday, persisting into Sunday morning. As is often the case with spring storms, we can expect a mix of precipitation, highly dependant on the time of day as well as your specific elevation. Special weather statements have been issued for regions north and west of Montreal, as well as across all of Ontario. These may be upgraded to weather warning for some locations later today.

For Montreal, we can expect rain mixed with snow, with a slushy 5-10cm possible by Sunday morning. North of the St. Lawrence River as well as in the Ottawa Valley, accumulations may be in the 15-20cm range. Some locations across southern Quebec and Ontario may also see freezing rain or sleet during the transition form snow to rain. There may even be a rumble or two of thunder for some of us late Saturday along the trailing cold front. All regions will taper off to showers or flurries on Sunday.

Strong low pressure is expected to produce areas of moderate to heavy wet snow and rain this weekend, along with winds gusting to 100km/h in places. (AccuWeather.com Map)

Rather strong northeast winds of 30 to 50km/h can be expected with the rain and snow Saturday in Montreal, making for a rather raw, unpleasant day outdoors. Temperatures will be either side of the freezing point through Saturday and into the overnight hours, warming up to 2C or 3C on Sunday under mainly cloudy skies, with continued light precipitation.

This same storm system will produce a wide area of rain and snow along with winds of up to 100km/h locally, across the lower Great Lakes into Ontario. A trailing cold front will produce strong thunderstorms from the Ohio Valley into the southeastern US.

Spotty freezing rain expected for the Montreal region

A period of freezing rain is forecast for the overnight hours into Thursday morning for southern Quebec. The morning commute may be affected in the metro Montreal region, with temperature marginally cold enough for a little ice accretion to occur. The precipitation will change to rain early Thursday alleviating any travel concerns.

Freezing rain warning for southern Quebec and the Ottawa Valley

Spring has arrived here in Montreal, at least on the calendar. The new season arrived at 5:24pm Monday afternoon, along with bright sunshine and warming temperatures. But as is often the case with March weather, winter still has a few more cards to play. 

High pressure, briefly in control early Wednesday morning across southern Quebec, produced a rather chilly start tot the day, with low temperatures around -6C in Montreal. The warm March sun will help the mercury climb above freezing today, up to 3C by late afternoon. Clouds will be on the increase as our attention turns to an advancing warm front form the central US.

The front will approach our region overnight into Thursday, with precipitation in the form of rain and freezing rain starting during the wee hours of the morning. At the onset, temperatures will marginally cold enough for spotty freezing rain. I am not expecting a ton of ice in metro Montreal or points south, but enough for Environment Canada to issue freezing rain warnings for most of southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. We can expect a few millimetres of frozen precipitation, making the Thursday morning commute icy in places.

Any freezing rain will change to rain early in the day for Montreal, as temperatures rise to 3C (38F).

High pressure will once again take control of our weather Friday, with a sunny, seasonable day forecast.

WEEKEND STORM

A large, potentially winter like storm arrives for the weekend, as strengthening low pressure heads for the Great Lakes and eventually close to the St. Lawrence Valley. A mix of rain and snow is expected across Ontario and Quebec, with quantity and type still to be determined. Enough snow to measure and gusty winds are possible for many of us.

30th Anniversary of March 1993 Superstorm

The cover of the Montreal Gazette on March 14, 1993 said it all. This was the paper I could not get distributed because of the storm. (Valley Weather/The Montreal Gazette))

March 13, 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the great east coast Superstorm. The following is the blog post I wrote on the storms 20th anniversary in 2013.

I have video of the storm recorded from my home in Verdun, and one of these days I will find it....SB

The March 1993 "Superstorm" was one of the biggest storms to affect eastern North America since weather keeping began. The storm stretched thousands of miles from Quebec down to Cuba. It was responsible for hundreds of deaths, damage in the hundreds of millions and delays and closures that lasted for days. The storm struck over a three day period, March 13-15, 1993.

The storm was incredible on satellite images, stretching across all of eastern North America.(NOAA)

It was a textbook Nor'Easter that unleashed powerful winds and heavy precipitation across its entire path. Heavy snow and record cold occurred from the deep southern US into Montreal and points north and east. Here in the St. Lawrence Valley, the snow started on Saturday, March 13 at around 3pm and became very intense during the evening and overnight hours when visibility dropped to zero for several hours. Winds gusted to well over 80km/h and about 40cm of snow accumulated in Montreal in just 12 hours. The pressure dropped to an impressive low at Trudeau Airport, 973mb. Across eastern Ontario and western New York up to 60cm fell. The storm closed all the bridges in Montreal as well as several highways during the height of the storm, rivalling the blizzard of 1971. Highways up and down the east coast were closed, including several major interstates. Most airports were closed as well, and it would be days before air travel returned to normal.

The snow was deep from Atlantic Canada to Georgia, with over 40cm in southern Quebec and up to 60cm in New York State and Ontario. (NOAA)

For me personally, it was the first time in my 20 or so years working for the Montreal Gazette that we could not get the trucks down to the loading docks to distribute the newspaper. I had a very rare night off as I tracked the storm. Luckily it was a Sunday, so many were at home anyway, had this storm occurred on a weekday, the impacts in Montreal would have been tremendous. Record cold surged into Quebec after the storm, with Montreal dropping to an all-time March record low of -23.9C on the morning of the 15th. The storm was part of a snowy March and April, with 69.2cm of snow in March and 41.6cm in April for Montreal, delaying the onset of Spring 1993 well into early May.

Southern Quebec on northern edge of east coast storm

Crews have been busy in the Montreal region over the last week clearing away the snow and ice that accumulated across the city to end February and begin March. A rather large late winter storm will miss Montreal over the next 24-48 hours, with just a glancing blow. Look for light snow and rain and strong northeast winds as the storm center moves along the New England coast.

A rather large Nor'Easter is set to impact the Eastern Seaboard, southern interior New England and New York, with heavy wet snow, coastal flooding and strong winds. The brunt of the complex storm system will largely remain south of the metro Montreal region, with minimal weather expected here. Portions of southern Quebec along the US border will receive several centimteres of wet snow tonight and Tuesday, with perhaps up to 10cm locally

Monday will be manly cloudy and mild in Montreal, with occasional light snow or rain across the St. Lawrence Valley. Temperatures are already above freezing and will likely remain there over the next 24 hours. Light snow is falling in the Ottawa Valley where it is a touch cooler.

Low pressure will move across the Great Lakes, passing close to Montreal tonight will weakening. Meanwhile a strengthening coastal storm will move form the Carolinas northeast towards Cape Cod. The storm will then linger over the open waters of the North Atlantic into Wednesday before slowly drifting south of Nova Scotia.

Two areas of low pressure will delivery damp, windy and at times snowy weather across the region over the next 48 hours. The bulk of the heavy wet snow and wind will remain south of Montreal. (AccuWeather.com)

What this means for Montreal is a period of damp, dreary weather, with gusty northeast winds and perhaps a cold rain or a little light wet snow. Temperatures will remain within a degree or two of 2C (36F) throughout the period. At this time it appears the heaviest snow will miss Montreal, falling across portions of southern Vermont, interior southeast New York and western New England. Between 15-40cm of snow is possible for those locations, especially the higher elevations. Strong northeast winds will develop with the storm, gusting over 100km/h in coastal regions, and between 40-70km/h here in southern Quebec on Tuesday.

Widespread power outages are anticipated in New England, especially across the Green Mountain and southern Adirondacks. Travel will become quite difficult for those heading south and east across the Townships and into New England.

The weather will eventually clear across the region on Thursday, with mild temperatures continuing. Another storm will approach Quebec on Friday, with a mix of rain and snow forecast once again.

The calm after the storm in Montreal

Heavy snow fell across the extreme southwestern corner of the province on Saturday, with 25 to 30cm accumulating from Ile Perrot (shown above) towards the Ontario border. At my home on Ile Perrot, 41cm has fallen since Tuesday. To date just over 230cm of snow has fallen for the season at Trudeau Airport. (Valley Weather Photo)

The snowstorm is winding down across southwestern Quebec Saturday evening. I always knew the island of Montreal would be on the edge of the heaviest precipitation associated with this storm, but I never anticipated such a wide range of accumulations across such a small geographical area. The heaviest snow fell along and south of the St. Lawrence River from Ile Perrot to the Ontario border.

Across the extreme southwest corner of the province, accumulations of snow were significant, with 30cm reported at both Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. Here on Ile Perrot, I measured 25cm at my home, while just 24 kilometres northeast at Trudeau Airport, only 14cm fell. Amounts were even less further north and east of the city, with 8cm reported in Laval and 7cm in Drummondville. Only flurries were observed in Quebec City.

Roads were snow covered and travel was quite difficult this morning heading southwest towards the Ontario border along both highways 20 and 40. Lighter snow this afternoon, along with warmer temperatures allowed for road conditions to improve quickly.

Low pressure continues to move away from New England this evening, with light snow ending by midnight. Temperatures will drop down to -5C (23F) under cloudy skies. Sunday will see a return of above freezing temperatures, with some clearing expected by late afternoon. There may be an isolated snowflake or two. The high temperature should reach plus 3C (38F) in Montreal, so expect some melting. Monday will be partly sunny and continuing mild, up to 4C (39F).

Winter storm to impact the Montreal region with up to 20cm of snow

Heavy snow is now expected across southern Quebec on Saturday, with snowfall warnings extended into metro Montreal Friday afternoon.

Snowfall Warning posted for southwestern Quebec including metro Montreal

On the anniversary of the epic 1971 blizzard of the century in Montreal, we have another winter storm bearing down on the region.

Friday is as nice a late-winter day as you can possibly have in Montreal. Temperatures are mild along with brilliant sunshine. Sadly this weather will not last much longer. Clouds are on the increase across southern Quebec in advance of a strengthening winter storm that is forecast to move from Oklahoma towards the Ohio Valley and eventually south of Montreal across New England on Saturday.

A strong winter storm developing over the lower Mississippi Valley Friday afternoon, will move northeast spreading heavy snow into southern Ontario and extreme southern Quebec. (AccuWeather.com)

Widespread winter storm and snowfall warnings are currently in effect, now including the island of Montreal as well as the Eastern Townships, Richelieu Valley, Vaudreuil-Dorion and Valleyfield. Computer guidance has come into better agreement over the last few hours, extending the steady snow further north and prompting the new weather warnings in Quebec as well as across the Ottawa Valley and Eastern Ontario. 

Snow is expected to develop across Ontario this afternoon and arrive in Montreal around midnight. Steady snow, heavy at times, is expected through Saturday. Accumulations will be in the 10-20cm for Montreal, with up to 25cm across the warning area south and west of the city. The least amount of snow will fall north and east of Montreal. Gusty northeast winds up to 50km/h will cause blowing snow in open areas on Saturday.

Expect poor travel conditions across Ontario and southwestern Quebec late tonight and Saturday. The heavy snow will stretch all along the 401 and 417 corridors as well as southward across New York State and New England.

Temperatures will be seasonably mild, with lows around -8C (17F) and daytime highs Saturday up to -1C (30F). Skies will clear Sunday, along with mld high temperatures above freezing up to 3C (38F)

Despite meteorological spring - winter weather will persist across southern Quebec

Roads were in terrible shape on Tuesday, with dozens of accidents reported in the Montreal region. Between 15-20cm of snow fell on the city, at times quite heavily, reducing visibility and creating icy, snow-packed roads. More snow is expected over the coming days.

Welcome to meteorological spring. After the 15-20cm snowfall to end February, March has started off partly sunny and mild, with above freezing temperatures in Montreal. Unfortunately the mild, spring like weather will not last. We have at least two more winter storms on the horizon for Montreal, one rather weak and the second much stronger.

On Tuesday, a rather vigorous storm system overperformed across the region, with 15-20cm falling across metro Montreal. It was one of the more difficult driving days of the season, with snow covered, slushy and icy roads, and numerous accidents reported in southern Quebec and along Highway 401 in Ontario. 

Just one of the many accidents reported on the island of Montreal Tuesday. This one occurred around 5pm on Highway 20 eastbound before Saint Charles in Beaconsfield. The driver was not injured, but traffic was snarled as the rig blocked all eastbound lanes. The truck took out several trees coming to rest along the fence by a parking lot on Beaurepaire Drive (below).

High pressure has briefly built into southern Quebec for a few hours Wednesday, with sunshine and mild temperatures. The clearing will be short-lived however, with clouds thickening up already as I write. Low pressure will move down the St. Lawrence Valley Thursday, with a mix of light rain and snow. Perhaps 5cm accumulation for the Montreal region. The high temperature will be mild, around 1C (34F)

Brief clearing Thursday night, will allow for overnight lows around -12C (10F). On Friday, clouds will increase once again in response to a much stronger winter storm passing south of Montreal across New England and New York. At this time snow if forecast to begin late Friday and persist into Saturday. Similar quantities are expected as with Tuesday's storm system, in the 15-20cm range for Montreal and points south, slightly less snow is forecast north of the city and in the Ottawa Valley.

Specific details still need to be worked out for the weekend storm, so stay tuned as quantities may change